I’m feeling festive. I love a national holiday (and Turkey) – so I’m thinking we should adopt Thanksgiving!
After all…
The ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ (that name came 200 years later) came from Lincolnshire, our own Boston – they were a group of religious dissenters – ‘Puritans’ wanting to escape the confines of the Church of England.
And…
The ‘Pilgrim Fathers’ travelled on the Mayflower with around 70 entrepreneurs – enlisted by the financial backer of the voyage – the London Adventurers (what a brilliant name!), who were keen to realise the promise of large profits from the Puritans New England colony.
Also…
On the voyage – which was pretty rough, they created the Mayflower Compact, an agreement that bound them into a “civil body politic’, establishing constitutional law and the rule of the majority, and so is regarded as paving the way to American democracy.
So what’s that got to do with branding?
Branding isn’t just about business, branding brings people together around an idea, or an event and signposts it visually and verbally.
Thanksgiving (note its just one word) celebrates entrepreneurship, risk taking, challenging the establishment. In our minds it has become synonymous with surviving against the odds, and living and working together. And, lets not forget the visual icon: Turkey. Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks – those first settlers who survived, shared their first harvest with the indigenous people – the settlers were after all migrants (Ok colonists!) from England.
Thanksgiving is still a big family occasion, but is somewhat overshadowed by the frenzy of Black Friday (a day of heavy traffic and shops going ‘in the black’) and Cyber Monday (created by marketing companies to encourage people to shop online) – days that we have taken on board and which mark the beginning of sales up until Christmas).
Talking of Christmas…
How are you getting on with your Christmas message – are you going to send a branded gift, or maybe you will you print your own card, or perhaps send out an email with an on-brand image and donate to a charity? Let me know if I can I help you with that.
Disclaimer: everything I know is Googled or Wikopedian… have you donated to help maintain that fantastic free resource this year?
We are human beings, not human doings
Gratitude can transform common days into Thanksgivings,
turn routine jobs into joy, and change ordinary opportunities into blessings.
~ William Arthur Ward
Be a care bear & share 🙂